Drive unit for portable rotisserie



Nov. 22, 1960 Filed Feb. 6. 1959 J. C. FORTIS DRIVE UNIT FOR PORTABLE ROTISSERIE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVENTOR. dO/l/V c. roar/s,

7 wm; M401. *9

Arnie/megs.

Nov. 22, 1960 J. c. FORTIS 2,961,588

DRIVE UNIT FOR PORTABLE ROTISSERIE Filed Feb. 6, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. a0 H/V c". P027753 4 T TOE/VEVS United States Patent DRIVE UNIT FOR PORTABLE norrs'snnrn John C. Fortis, '62 Vreeland Ave., Clifton, NJ.

Filed Feb. 6, 1959, Ser. N0. 791,610

4 Claims. (11. 318-139) This invention is directed to an electrically powered drive unit adapted for use with a portable rotisserie which includes a rotatable spit element. The invention has, among others, the following important objectives:

To provide a generally improved drive unit of the character stated;

To adapt the drive unit for mass production manufacturing operations, thus to reduce the end cost thereof, through the provision of novel, relatively inexpensive casing and support plate components;

To facilitate assembly and disassembly of the device through the novel formation and relation of the component parts thereof;

To provide a support plate capable of being readily formed largely from a sheet metal stamping, which support plate is adapted to provide a support for conventional batteries, a motor, and certain related components, said support plate being adapted to be prcassembled with the parts carried thereby and inserted bodily, with said parts, in an associated casing, the support plate further being adapted to constitute part of the electrical circuit embodied in the device;

To provide a casing which is particularly formed relative to the support plate in a manner that will cause the casing to cooperate with the support plate in supporting a plurality of gear components designed to produce slowspeed rotation of a rotisserie spit, during the normal use of the device;

To provide a means adapted to support a conventional control switch, in position such as to permit convenient operation of the switch from a location exteriorly of the casing;

To so design the switch support means as to cause the same to function, additionally, as a contact with the respective batteries;

To so design the battery-contacting portions of the above mentioned means as to cause said portions to cooperate with the battery support plate in the support of the respective batteries;

To form the contact portions of the switch support means, and the battery supporting portion of the combination battery and motor support plate, in such a way as to facilitate replacement of batteries whenever desired; and

To design the drive unit in a way that will not only permit its preassembly independently of an associated rotisserie, but also, will permit it to be swiftly attached to or detached from the rotisserie.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a rear perspective view of a drive unit according to the present invention, a spit extending thereinto being shown fragmentarily;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view, substantially on line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the casing on line 44 of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the battery and motor support plate, per se.

Referring to the drawing in detail, a rectangular sheet metal casing generally designated 10 includes a receptacle 12 formed with a flat, vertical, rectangular back wall 14 integral with forwardly projecting side walls 16 having inwardly turned top and bottom flanges 17 disposed in face to face contact with and fixedly secured to the inner surfaces of top and bottom walls 18 also integral with and projecting forwardly from back Wall 14.

Casing 10 further includes a rectangular, fiat cover plate 29 normally closing the open front of receptacle 12 and formed with a rearwardly directed flange 22 along each of its several edges. Screws 24 extend inwardly through openings formed in the opposite side flanges of the cover plate, said screws being threadedly engaged in apertures 25 of side walls 16 to fixedly, detachably, connect the cover plate 20 to receptacle 12.

Fixedly secured to one side edge portion of back wall 14 is a mounting bracket 26 having a rearwardly offset, laterally outwardly projecting free end portion formed With an aperture. A pair of correspondingly rearwardly offset mounting brackets 28 are secured to the other side edge portion of back wall 14. These brackets are for the purpose of receiving fastening elements, whereby the drive unit may be connected to an end wall of an associated rotisserie, no shown.

Referring to Figure 5, a battery and motor support plate 30, formed out of a single piece of sheet metal cut and stamped to shape from a generally rectangular blank, is fixedly mounted in a vertical position within casing 10, at a location spaced forwardly from back wall 14, through the provision of a plurality of mounting studs 31 threadedly engaged in apertures of back wall 14 (Figure 1) and extending horizontally, forwardly within the casing (Figure 2).

Support plate 39 is formed with narrow, forwardly projecting top and bottom flanges 32, rigidifying the same. In closely spaced relation to the respective flanges are transverse slits, including an upper pair of slits 34,

*' and a lower pair of slits 36, extending laterally inwardly from the respective side edges of the plate 30. By reason of upper and lower transverse slits at each side of the plate 30, there is defined between the slits of each side of plate 30 a backing plate 37 for conventional batteries to be described hereinafter.

Backing plates 37 are struck rearwardly out of the general plane of the support plate 30, and are transversely curved as shown in Figures 2 and 5, so as to be disposed in face to face contact with the back portions of the batteries.

Struck forwardly out of the material of the respective backing plates 37 are horizontally disposed contact tongues 38, which are inte ral with the top walls of the upper slits 34 as shown in Figure 5.

Striking the tongues 38 forwardly leaves vertically disposed, slot-like openings 40 in the upper end portions of the respective battery backing plates 37. Struck downwardly out of the material of the free end portions of the respective contact tongues 38 are rounded lugs 42 defining contact or terminal elements adapted to engage the upper ends of the center posts of the batteries.

Disposed medially between the respective backing plates 37, in the upper end portion of the plate 30, is a rearwardly struck, rectangular, wide motor backing plate 44, lying in a plane parallel to and spaced rearwardly a short distance from the general plane of the support plate 30.

An upwardly opening, generally vertical, wide slot 46 is formed in plate 44, midway between the opposite sides thereof.

-In attaching the support plate 30 to the back wall of the receptacle, one positions the support plate 39 upon forwardly projecting reduced, threaded axial extensions 47 of studs 31, after which nuts 45 are threaded upon said extensions (Figure 2).

Struck forwardly out of the material of the plate 39, adjacent one of the battery backing plates 37, is a tubular boss 48. Coaxially aligned with boss 48 are external and internal tubular bosses t), 51 of the'backing plate 14. It will be understood that the bosses 59, 51, as well as the boss 48, might be in the form of sleeves formed separately from the casing and support plate, if this is deemed desirable to reduce costs.

Mounted in the bottom of the receptacle, forwardly of plate Sil, is a rectangular, forwardly opening holder 52, including side wings 53 having confronting, inwardly directed clamping lips at their upper ends. Fixedly secured to the bottom of the generally U-shaped clamp defined by the side wings 53 and by a bight portion 55 extending between and integrally connected to the side Wings is an elongated, electrically conductive contact strip 54 having upwardly inclined end portions terminating in vertical, upwardly projecting end lips 56.

A conventional switch 66 is engaged between the wings 53, and is formed with 2. depending, threaded, tubular boss 58 extending downwardly through an opening formed in the bottom wall of the receptacle. A switch handle 6%} projects downwardly from'the boss 58, for operation of the switch from a location exteriorly of the casing.

A shouldered washer 62 of plastic or other electrical insulation is engaged in the opening referred to immediately above, and cooperates with a flat washer 63 in providing insulation between the switch and casing. A nut 64 is threaded upon the boss 58, to clamp the holder 52 and its associated switch 66 not only to one another, but also to the bottom wall of the receptacle 12.

One lead 68, extending from one terminal of switch 66, is connected at 69 to one of the electrically conductive wings 53. The other lead 70 of the switch extends to an electric motor 72, which may be a one and one-half volt motor in a preferred embodiment. Motor 72 is mounted upon motor support plate 44, projecting forwardly through rectangular opening 73 (see Figure 5) defined by the striking of the material of plate 36 rearwardly in the formation of the plate 44.

Lead 75 is connected to one terminal 74 of motor 72. A lead 75 extends from the other terminal 77 of the motor, and is electricallyconnected to the plate 36.

A pair of conventional, one and one-half -volt batteries 78 is carried by the plate 39. Batteries 7% are disposed in contact with the battery backing plates 37, and the lower and upper ends of the batteries are disposed in close proximity to the edges of the slots 34, 35. Should either battery tend to drop from its assigned, Figure 4 position, it will be almost immediately engaged by the edge of the associated lower slot 36, so as to limit the battery against undue downward movement from said assigned position thereof.

At their lower ends, the batteries are supported upon the upwardly projecting lips 56, making an electrical contact between the battery casings and said lips. The upper ends of the center posts of the batteries are in engagement with the lugs 42. Therefore, when switch 66 is closed, so as to permit theflow of current through the switch, motor 72 will be energized.

A driving connection is provided between the motor and the spit of the rotisserie. Said driving'connection has been generally designated 79, and is of the speed reduction type, so that on operation of the motor, a slowspeed rotation of thespit will be effected. Obviously, a speed reduction driving connection is, in and of itself,

an old expedient, and any number of gears can be employed in the required gear train, with said gears being of selected ratios to produce, at the output of the gear train, a rotation of the output shaft at a selected rate of speed in relation to the speed of the input shaft of the gear train.

In the illusrated arrangement, the gear train is disposed between the support plate Sit and the back wall 14. Referring to Figure 3, a drive pinion 80 is connected to the shaft 81 of the motor, in mesh with a larger gear 52. A still larger gear 84 is in mesh with a pinion 86 rotatable with gear 82. Gear 84 is rotatable with a small diameter pinion 88 in mesh with a gear 80 larger than gear 84. Rotatable with gear is a pinion 92 of small diameter, in mesh with a gear 94 comprising the largest of the train of gears.

A hub 95 (Figure 2) of gear 94 is integral or otherwise made rigid with an output shaft 96 of the gear train, rotating in and projecting at its ends beyond bosses 48, 5-5 respectively (see Figure 3).- A connector sleeve 97 has intermediate its ends a square bore-98 in which is removably insertible the spit 100 of the rotisserie, which spit would be of a cross section corresponding to that of bore 98. At its inner end, sleeve 97 has a counterbore 1491 of circular cross section receiving shaft 96. A set screw 152 fixedly, detachably connects the sleeve to the shaft for rotation therewith. At its outer end, the sleeve may have a counterbore 104 to guide the spit into the bore 98.

The construction which I have devised, as will be apparent, lends itself to mass production operations, both from the standpoint of low cost production of the indiidual components of the drive unit, and form the standpoint of swift and easy assembly of the device by relatively unskilled labor.

Thus, one preassembles with the plate 30 the motor 72, making the connection of the lead 76 to the plate 30. One may also preassemble the holder 52 with the switch 66, in the same manner. The holder 52 may be properly considered as including the contact strip 54 which serves, in cooperation with the plate 30, as a holder for the batteries 78.

With the plate 30 in place in the casing, one inserts the preassembled switch and holder 52, and secures the same to the casing by means of the nut 54. Lead 70 may be connected, if desired, at this time to the switch 66.

Then, the batteries are merely inserted. Of course, it will be understood that the entire gear train will have been previously assembled within the casing, against the back wall 14, so that on mounting of the preassembled motor and motor support plate within the casing, a driving connection will be automatically established between the motorand the gear train.

The cover plate is now applied and secured inplace by screws 24, and after attachment of the entire device to the wall of the rotisserie, the device is ready for use. Insertion of the spit Within the rotisserie, above'the heated area of therotisserie, will automatically establish a driving connection between the drive unit constituting the invention and the spit.

The device is characterized by its relatively low cost, considering the benefits to be obtained from the use thereof. The casing and other supporting components are swiftly and cheaply formed from inexpensive sheet metal material. Further, the construction is such as to facilitate assembly of the several components, one with another.

Still further, the arrangement provides ready access to the batteries, whenever replacement thereof is needed.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construe-tion is -onlyintended to be illustrative of the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drive unit for the spit of a portable rotisserie comprising: a casing adapted for attachment to a rotisserie; an output shaft extending within said casing and adapted to be drivingly engaged with said spit; a combined battery and motor support plate mounted within the casing and including a flat body portion and a pair of battery backing plates integral with the body portion at opposite sides thereof; a motor secured to said body portion between the battery backing pla es; a switch holder mounted in the casing and including a contact strip formed with a pair of contact strip portions extending outwardly in opposite directions from said clamp, said strip portions being in electrical contact with the batteries in supporting relation thereto; a switch carried by said clamp and electrically connected by said strip portions in circuit with the batteries and motor; and a speedreducing driving connection between the motor and output shaft.

2. A drive unit for the spit of a portable rotisserie comprising: a casing adapted for attachment to a rotisserie; an output shaft extending within said casing and adapted to be drivingly engaged with said spit; an electrically conductive, combined battery and motor support plate mounted within the casing and including a fiat body portion and a pair of battery backing plates integral with the body portion at opposite sides thereof; a motor secured to said body portion between the battery backing plates and having a pair of terminals; 3,

switch holder mounted in the casing and including a clamp of electrically conductive material and contact strip portions engaged with and extending in opposite directions outwardly from said clamp, said strip portions being in electrical contact with one terminal of the batteries in supporting relation to the batteries; a switch carried by said clamp and including spaced terminals one of which is electrically connected to said clamp, the other terminal of said switch having an electrical connection to one terminal of the motor, the other terminal of the motor having an electrical connection to the support plate, said support plate including tongues engaged with the other terminals of the batteries; and a speed-reducing driving connection between the motor and output shaft.

3. A drive unit as in claim 2 wherein said batteries are disposed in upright positions with the strip portions extending below the batteries in engagement with the lower ends thereof, said tongues extending above the batteries in engagement with the upper ends of the batteries.

4. A drive unit as in claim 2 wherein the strip portions are of springable material and are tensioned to urge the batteries upwardly into engagement with said tongues, said strip portions being flexible downwardly against the tension thereof to release the batteries from engagement with said tongues.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS McCormick et al. July 12, 1949 

